Directors Join Move to Protect Film Rights

F ilmland politics : Move over, corporate Hollywood, Jack Valenti and the Motion Picture Assn. of America. Actors, writers and directors have long supported a variety of political candidates and causes. But now they are aggressively moving into industry-related political issues.

That it’s a new ballgame recently became evident when two well-known directors--Steven Spielberg and Barry Levinson--easily raised $100,000 from colleagues for the reelection campaign of--are you ready?--Rep. Robert J. Mrazek (D-N.Y.).

That Mrazek could raise such a large sum in one day in Hollywood sent shock waves across Capitol Hill. It is a signal to politicians eager for entertainment dough that the creative side of filmland is entering the legislative arena in a major way to protect artists’ rights.

Mrazek was tapped by Spielberg and Levinson because the New York congressman sponsored a bill that created the National Film Preservation Board, which has already designated 25 films as national treasures. He has also supported legislation that safeguards the artistic integrity of films.

What worries Spielberg and Levinson is the lack of legal protection for film artists on such technical matters as scoring, dialogue, wardrobe and set design.

Turning up the heat on movie moguls, Spielberg was quoted as decrying the idea of corporate meddling because “someone thinks it’s a good idea to turn the four hours of ‘Gone With the Wind’ into a rock opera.”

Whispers: Should Councilman Robert Farrell, Tom Bradley’s choice for the Democratic Assembly seat now held by Maxine Waters, win the primary nomination June 5, who is the mayor’s choice to succeed him in City Hall? Insiders hint that Bradley will be in the corner of Los Angeles Board of Education member Rita Walters . . . Here’s proof that explaining a complicated issue like reapportionment to voters requires a gimmick: GOP redistricting gurus are playing a “Star Wars” image game with the Democrats. Seeking to offset a potential edge that Democrats may have by recruiting Jack Lemmon to appear in a TV ad opposing Propositions 118 and 119, proponents have countered with another big Hollywood name: Charlton Heston. The ad will begin airing Tuesday.

No one was more puzzled than GOP gubernatorial candidate Sen. Pete Wilson by President Bush’s failure to announce his decision on offshore oil drilling last week during a stop in Venice, a stone’s throw from Santa Monica Bay. Wilson, a staunch foe of any drilling, hitched a ride back to Washington on Air Force 1, but had no clearer idea on touchdown, or afterward, about where the ambivalent President stands . . . Waking up the echoes: the caption on one paid GOP slate-card mailer to high-propensity voters before primary day reads: “Vote Republican: Keep the Reagan Revolution Alive.”